Adelina
by ChoCedric
Summary: Stuck at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place during Order of the Phoenix, Sirius reflects upon the only girl he ever loved. She changed his life in ways he could never forget.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: This fic is a chapter in my novel-length fic, Love is Immortal, but I changed it up a bit and decided to put it up as a one-shot also, so that readers who don't want to read that long story can just take a look at this. I hope you enjoy it.

Adelina

By: ChoCedric

Sirius Black tossed and turned in his bed at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, remembering someone who had been very special to him. He thought of her all the time, but it was especially hard to get her off his mind when he had nothing else to distract him. Remus was gone on an Order mission, and no one else was in the house, so Sirius was stuck alone.

This beautiful girl's name was Adelina Jones. She and Sirius had met sixth year, a few days after the infamous werewolf Prank. He was being ignored by the Marauders other than Peter, who still talked to him, but he was desperate to have Remus and James's friendship back. He had done a terrible, terrible thing, and he wished he could take it back. Adelina had found him, staring up at the dark, gray, friendless sky on the deserted Quidditch pitch. She had sat down next to him and the two had begun to talk.

No, he had never told her about the Prank itself, because he would never betray Remus by talking about his condition again. But she knew he had done something to get his friends furious with him, and she could see how sincerely sorry he was for it. She assured him that they'd come around, and he had thought her presence was reassuring. Every day, she began to meet him at the same spot, and they began to share more and more with each other.

Sirius didn't really talk to anyone about his horrible home life besides the rest of the Marauders and his favorite cousin Andromeda, but he somehow felt an inexplicable urge to share it with Adelina. The more he got to know the beautiful Ravenclaw, the more he grew fond of her. He'd always been the type of guy to attract many a lady, and he seemed to always be snogging someone on top of the Astronomy Tower. But somehow, this was different from all the other relationships with girls he'd ever had. She began to share her experiences with him too, and it was amazing because she had pretty much the same kind of home life he did. She was a Muggle-born, and upon learning she was a witch, her parents had begun to treat her horribly, calling her a spawn of Satan and telling her that yes, she could go to Hogwarts, but she'd end up going to Hell when she left this world. The summer before sixth year, she'd run away from home and gone to live with one of her Ravenclaw friends, the same as Sirius had done with James the same summer. They felt a deep connection; for once he was letting someone other than the Marauders see past his cool, cocky, prankster exterior.

They'd met in November and grown close very fast, beginning to date in December, right after Remus and James had forgiven him for the Prank. They both really liked her, and understood that this was not the usual "fling" Sirius always involved himself in.

Then, at the very beginning of April, Adelina and Sirius had a fight. His status as the "ladies' man" had gotten around, and this had made Adelina wary of dating him at first. But over time, she'd grown to really trust him. But unfortunately, one of her Ravenclaw friends, not the one she lived with, but another one, didn't like Sirius. So she told Adelina that she had seen Sirius hanging around with another girl, holding hands with her and kissing her. Since Adelina found it so hard to trust, and she'd known this friend of hers a lot longer than she'd known Sirius, she believed her friend.

When she confronted Sirius, he was bewildered and told her he had no clue what she was talking about. But she just screamed at him that it was over, over, over and that she never wanted to speak to him again. This had hit Sirius pretty badly; he'd really been in love with this girl. She'd told him everything about herself, even her worst fear, which was to die alone. She was terrified of breathing her last breath with no one there to comfort her, no one there to hold her hand while she slipped from this life into whatever came afterwards. He had told her his worst fear also, which was abandonment. They'd shared such a deep connection that her suddenly breaking it off caused a hole to open in his heart.

He'd never forget the event which happened two days after his and Adelina's breakup. It was the usual Hogsmeade weekend trip, and he, James, Peter, and Remus had been in Zonko's when the worst happened. The village had been attacked.

Voldemort and his Death Eaters were becoming quite powerful now, but this was the first time they'd ever attacked Hogsmeade. Screams had ripped through the village, and the four Marauders had run outside to try and help.

FLASHBACK

"James!" Peter screamed, clinging to James's arm. "What do we do? We're under attack!"

"Just stay close, Pete!" James answered, not being able to hide the fear in his own voice. Sirius and Remus hurried after the two, also staying very close to them.

"We have to take charge now," James said in his "leader" voice. Even though he was afraid, he knew he had to be strong. He had to set an example for the other students. Ever since the werewolf Prank, he'd really grown up. Life was not just about pulling pranks and making jokes; yes, it was definitely a part of it, but there were times when you needed to be serious as well, and you had to know right from wrong. James could see terrified and disoriented students running about, and he knew he had to try and restore some order. "Peter, you stay with me. Sirius, Remus, try to go help the younger students. If you come in contact with any Death Eaters, do everything you can to stop them. We aren't learning Defense Against the Dark Arts for nothing, boys. This is it. This is the real thing." Peter let out a squeak of pure terror. "It's okay, Wormtail, just stay by me and things will be all right," he tried to reassure. "Padfoot, Moony, good luck." He pulled the three Marauders into a group hug, for none of them knew whether all four of them would be together again. In a situation like this, you never did know.

They managed to smile and high-five each other. "Best friends forever," James said, and the three others echoed him. Then everything went into action. James ran off in one direction with Peter, Remus and Sirius going off at tangents.

Sirius ran through the crowd, hearing bangs of explosions and seeing different colored lights fly into the sky. Curses were being yelled, and the townspeople of Hogsmeade were trying their best to defend the village. Chaos reigned all around, and many students were in tears. There were also bodies on the ground, and Sirius knew with a numb sense of horror that some of them were dead. How many students is Hogwarts going to lose? he thought frantically. He tried to be authoritative, telling students to calm down and to try to walk back towards the school. Villagers from Hogsmeade were volunteering to help them, herding the students away from the horrifying scene of devastation.

As Sirius walked along, he stopped in his tracks, for he saw a sight that chilled him to the bone. Four Death Eaters were standing over a crumpled figure. She was hardly recognizable, for she was covered in blood. "No!" Sirius bellowed as he saw her. "Oh, Gods, Lina, no!"

He wondered how long she'd been tortured for; the attack had been going on for minutes now. Right now the Death Eaters were holding her under Cruciatus. She was screaming for all she was worth, tears streaming down her face. "EXPELLIARMUS!" Sirius screamed, and one of the Death Eaters' wands went flying out of their hand. It was the Death Eater who had been holding Cruciatus on Adelina, and immediately, the curse stopped. Sirius leant over her, his face barely inches from hers.

"Lina! Lina! Are you all right, love?" he cried. Yes, they had broken up now, but he couldn't help the term of endearment from slipping from his mouth.

"Siri ... Sirius!" Adelina croaked, her voice raspy and hoarse from all the screaming. "What are you doing here? Get back to the school!"

"No," said Sirius firmly. "I won't let them hurt you!"

"Awwww, isn't that sweet?" a woman's voice said mockingly. With a thrill of hatred so strong it almost paralysed him, Sirius knew who it was. Hiding under that mask was none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. "Is wittle baby Siwius in looooove?" she taunted as she let out a high-pitched cackle of raucous laughter.

"Fuck you, Bellatrix!" Sirius spat.

"So," sneered Bellatrix, "wittle baby Siwius decides to use bad language towards his cwuel cousin to twy to defend his love, because he's fwightened for her?"

"STUPEFY!" Sirius shouted, but Bellatrix dodged the spell and yelled an Expelliarmus of her own. Sirius's wand went flying out of his hand and into Bellatrix's.

"Ah, not so cwever now, are you?" giggled Bellatrix.

"You are a horrible, horrible woman," gasped Adelina.

"You are a howwible, howwible woman," Bellatrix mocked. "Do you hear that, Rodolphus? Wittle baby Siwius's love is calling me a howwible woman."

Rodolphus, the Death Eater standing to her right, laughed insanely. "And she's a mudblood, too," he cackled. "The Black heir is in love with a mudblood."

"I'm no Black!" Sirius spat venomously. "I left my disgusting family! If it's to be infected with the likes of you, I don't want to be a part of it!"

"Ah, so bwave, so bwave," smiled Bellatrix. Pointing her wand at Adelina again, she cried, "Crucio!"

"No!" Sirius screamed, jumping in front of Adelina's crumpled form and taking the curse for her. Even as pain like he'd never known before ripped through his entire body, he reminded himself again and again that he loved her, he was doing this for her, he'd rather be the one suffering than her. He could hear her screaming his name, yelling at Bellatrix to stop the torture.

Suddenly, the pain was gone, and as Sirius shakily got to his feet, he saw Albus Dumbledore standing there. Bellatrix's wand had gone flying out of her hand, but she was nowhere in sight. "W-where did she go?" he stammered, staring at the Headmaster.

"Disapparated, Sirius," Dumbledore said softly. "She's escaped. So have the others."

"Dammit!" Sirius cried. "Well, at least she doesn't have her wand. Never mind, her stupid Lord will probably get her a new one," he snarled. "Oh God, what about Adelina? She's really hurt, we have to do something!"

"The injured are going to St. Mungo's, Sirius," said Dumbledore glumly, handing Sirius back his wand. "The fight is pretty much over. Many of the Death Eaters escaped when they saw me."

At that moment, James, Remus, and Peter came running over. Peter was shaking, and Remus and James looked shocked. "Siri, are you all right?" James asked.

"He's fine, but he needs to go to St. Mungo's just to be sure," said Dumbledore. "He took a Cruciatus."

"Oh, Merlin!" squeaked Peter. James and Remus immediately put a hand on his shoulder when they saw Adelina, broken and bleeding, in Dumbledore's arms. "Are you all right, mate?" Remus asked.

"They were torturing her, and I-I had to stop it," Sirius said, shock still coursing through him. "I took Cruciatus for her."

The others looked even more surprised. "Mate, are you sure you're alright? You really do care about her, don't you?" said James.

"More than she'll ever know," said Sirius honestly.

"Let's go," said Dumbledore somberly. "I'll apparate Adelina to St. Mungo's, and then I'll come back for you, Sirius."

"We're going too," James said at once. "Marauders always stay together. We're not leaving his side."

"No, honestly, it's all right," said Sirius. "I'm fine. I won't be long."

"It doesn't matter," James insisted. "We're going with you whether you like it or not."

Dumbledore looked at their set jaws and knew there was nothing he could do to dissuade them. "All right," he agreed, and with a POP! he and Adelina were gone, but not before she tiredly made eye contact with Sirius once again, expressing what she couldn't, at that moment, say in words. It was then that Sirius knew she finally believed him over her Ravenclaw friend.

xxx

At St. Mungo's, James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter all sat in the waiting room on the Spell Damage ward. When it was Sirius's turn to go in to be checked, he was quickly given a potion to help with the after-effects of the Cruciatus and was then given a clean bill of health. "Has anyone heard anything about Adelina?" he asked as he returned to the waiting room.

"Nothing yet," said Dumbledore, who was sitting on one of the chairs. "But we promise to let you know if anything is heard."

A few moments later, a Healer came out of another room. "Is there anyone named Sirius Black out here?" she asked, a grim look on her face.

"I'm Sirius Black," said Sirius at once, standing up to his full height.

The Healer looked at him with a sad and sympathetic expression on her face. "A young lady's been asking for you," she said. "Adelina Jones. She wants to see you."

"Oh Merlin. Where is she? How is she?" Sirius asked desperately.

The Healer pointed to a door diagonal from where he was standing. "She's in there," she said. She didn't answer Sirius's question as to how she was, but instead kept the sad look on her face. Another wave of numbness clawed through Sirius as he stood there, gaping at the Healer.

James put a hand on his shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Mate, do you need us to go in there with you?" he asked gently.

Sirius shook his head; he appreciated his friends hugely, but this was something he had to do on his own. "We'll be right there for you when you come out," Remus promised, and James and Peter nodded in agreement. Dumbledore gave him a sad smile, and Sirius went to the door the Healer had pointed to and opened it. "I'll be right here if you need me," the Healer said.

As Sirius walked into the room, he saw Adelina. She was as beautiful as always, but had many bandages covering bruises and cuts that were all over her body. Her face was pale and her breathing was ragged.

"Lina?" Sirius said softly, kneeling by her bedside and taking her hand.

"Sirius." Adelina's voice was very soft, barely audible. "God, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. I just thought-I just thought, after everything I'd heard about you in the past, that you'd gone and been with another girl."

"Shhh," said Sirius, squeezing Adelina's hand. He remembered she loved the Muggle movie Love Story, and repeated one of her favorite lines from it. "Love means never having to say you're sorry," he whispered. "There was only you, Lina. I know I've been an idiot in the past, but this-this was different. I've never felt this way about any of those other girls. I ... I'm just so sorry I didn't get to you in time. I would have let them hurt me instead, I would've done anything so they wouldn't have done what they did to you."

A tear made its way down Adelina's face. "Don't, don't say that," she rasped. "You didn't have to take that curse for me, you know."

"Yes, I did," Sirius told her quietly. "I love you, Lina."

"And I love you, Sirius," Adelina said. "Please ... hold me, would you?"

"Your wish is my command," Sirius said, managing a weak grin at her. Adelina couldn't see him break down. This was her moment, the moment where she needed him the most. He had to be strong for her.

He picked her up and sat on the bed, tenderly holding her in his arms. "Thank you," she whispered then. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. You changed my life."

"You changed mine too, Lina," whispered Sirius. "And hey, I got to corrupt you. Made you susceptible to my Marauder charm." He managed to laugh a little, and she did, too, through the tears in her eyes.

They sat in silence for a minute, with him just holding her and her breathing becoming more and more erratic. Finally, she said in a terrified voice, "Sirius, I'm so scared. I don't want to die! What ... what if my parents are right, and I go to Hell?"

"You won't," Sirius promised. "You're such a good person, Lina. You won't go to Hell. And I'll make sure horrible Moldy Voldie and his supporters are defeated," he said, using the name he and his friends had come up with for Voldemort.

Adelina smiled weakly. She looked very, very tired. "Thank you, Siri," she said, her eyes beginning to flicker shut.

"You're welcome, Lina," said Sirius, stroking her hair soothingly. Then he said something which he knew she longed to hear, so she knew her worst fear wouldn't come true. "And you're not alone," he whispered, rubbing her back and chanting the words over and over again. He continued to say them as Adelina's breathing slowed and stopped, and she went limp in Sirius's arms.

Sirius just sat there, gaping open-mouthed at her, unable to believe what had just happened. Adelina was gone; the life had just been extinguished out of her. In a daze, he gently lowered Adelina to the bed and covered her in the sheet. He tenderly kissed her forehead and whispered, "Rest well, Lina." Unable to shed any tears because he was so numb, he walked out of the room. The Healer stood outside, and he just shook his head at her, causing the her to look at him sadly. "I'm sorry," she said.

Sirius said nothing, and walked over to his friends. "Padfoot?" James said gently, laying a hand on his shoulder. Remus and Peter stood up, simply looking at him.

"It's over," croaked Sirius. "Let's go."

END FLASHBACK

The other Marauders had done their best to try to cheer Sirius up after that. He felt awful about it, but he'd been so numb and broken by the whole experience that he'd been unable to cry; he couldn't do it even at her funeral. He thought himself such a terrible person for being able to cry after the Prank when he thought he'd lost his friendships with two of the Marauders, but being unable to cry when he really had lost a person, and one that he'd loved dearly. At the end of the year, it had been James's idea to do the Polyjuice Potion prank to try to lift his spirits and add a little cheer to the subdued atmosphere of Hogwarts. A few other students had been killed in the attack as well.

Upon ending his seventh year, Sirius had put his all into his Auror training. Looking back on it now, it was after Adelina's death that his temper had become even more volatile. Anything that was mentioned about the Death Eaters immediately made him angry, and his biggest aim was to try to destroy them all. He fought them with everything he had, with every fiber of his being.

All the tears he hadn't been able to cry then were shed through all the years he was locked up in Azkaban. He had to relive her death over and over again as the Dementors passed, and that broke him more than he was already. He always thought of the Marauders, how they'd tried to help him show his emotions but due to his will to be cool, collected and strong for others, he was simply unable to express it all. Through his years of imprisonment, he often wondered, what does Adelina think of me now? Is she looking down on me, cursing me for being so damn rash and landing myself in here?

He wondered now, as he drifted off to sleep, whether Adelina would be proud of the progress he had made since his escape. Would she be proud that he and Remus had reconciled, and he was doing all he could for precious Harry? After her death, there was never anyone else he loved like he'd loved her. Theirs was a whirlwind romance, and he'd never trade it for anything in the world. He hoped to see her smile again someday, and her picture was in his mind as his eyes shut. I hope you are proud of me, Lina, was his last thought. And I still love you.


End file.
